Cara B

You’re 8 years old again and oldies and classic rock songs are fresh to your ears. Twist and Shout, Bad Moon Rising and Jumpin’ Jack Flash are the coolest things you’ve ever heard, and have you bouncing up and down on the bed or shimmying your ass off on the kitchen floor. That’s the sound of music fusing itself to your soul. As you’ve evolved, so has your taste, but it’s pure gold to go back to those classics and spend another night in their warm and twangy embrace. Cara B is your place. Black and white portraits of the Stones, the Jackson 5 and other near-gods line the walls along with a framed homage to the media of our musical history: the vinyl 33 above the cassette next to the CD, all on a velvet backing.

There’s live music in Cara B every night from Tuesday through Saturday and it’s always free. Always. It’s a small bar so they host singer-songwriters, bands in petit format: rollo intimate and acoustic. Good craft and imported beer (lots of it, on tap and in bottles) and a very neighborhood vibe, if a bit thirty-something. When the music isn’t live, you can bet they’re laying down more Stones, Beatles, Van the Man and so on. Icing on cake: there’s a functioning jukebox in the back room.